


cauldron save me, mother hold me, guide me to you, let me pass through the gates

by i_need_more_coffee



Category: A Court of Thorns and Roses Series - Sarah J. Maas, MAAS Sarah J. - Works
Genre: Angst, Blood and Gore, Character Death, Drinking, F/F, F/M, Forced Marriage, M/M, Multi, Other, Suicidal Thoughts, Unhappy Ending, Violence, haha i need more coffee, if you like trash this is for you, im gonna kill everyone of at some point, the cauldron is a bitch
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-05
Updated: 2019-04-26
Packaged: 2019-08-04 19:52:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,205
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16353170
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/i_need_more_coffee/pseuds/i_need_more_coffee
Summary: ~ cauldron save me, mother hold me, guide me to you, let me pass through the gates ~~ next gen fic ~





	1. Chapter One

Upon the hill, I stand as still as the trees, not totally frozen, for just as their budded twigs move so does my long hair. My eyes are closed. Tousled auburn ribbons whip about my face; blown by air as fresh as any after a rainstorm. After several deep breaths, I take in the view, from here the fields are laid out before me. But I knew if I turned around hell would come crashing down again. I would have to go back to the shit hole they called a fortress. I would have to face my father and my brother's wrath after what I had done this morning, and even worse… Sadons. I felt a shudder run up my spine, the hairs on my arms rise. Just thinking about what he would do to me when I returned to my chamber.

 

_ The faint sound of water dripping through the ceiling and men outside screaming in pain as they were tortured for information woke me in the morning. Behind me I could feel the presence of him, his deep even breathing and the heat radiating off him keeping me warm. That was probably the only nice thing about Sadon. A grunt and then a rough scarred hand wrapped itself around my bare middle and started to caress my rips, the other going to my throat pressing slightly but not enough to cut off my airways, at least not yet. I could feel my pulse start to quicken and I knew he could too. I tried to curl away and cover my exposed sore chest, his hands only gripped me tighter. _

 

_ “Oh Melantha, don't be shy” his voice was still rough from sleep and when I tried to curl in on myself again he yanked the quilt away from me and all the warmth disappeared. It was the dead of winter and the fireplace had died out overnight so the only warmth I had left now that the quilt was gone, was him. Despite my every instinct screaming at me to move away from the cruel man behind me I shuffled closer until my back hit his chest and he could see my entire front. _

 

_ He shoved my shoulder and made me roll onto my front already grabbing me everywhere. I tried to focus on anything but him, the pained screams from outside or the feeling of going slightly numb from the cold...  I didn't say anything this time. I didn't fight. I didn't feel.  _

 

I had finally let go, it had finally clicked, nothing mattered. In a few days, I would be married off to Sadon based on lies of what he had and had not already done to me, and then my life would end. I would never see sunlight again, at least not that of the grassy fields or hear the sound of the waterfalls thundering down in The Hekli Mountains. 

 

Flashes of smoke, the smell of dried up blood and the sound of bones snapping over and over again filled my mind but I couldn't do anything about it but wish whatever it was, it would take me too.


	2. Chapter Two

I had returned to my chambers at around four, but no one was there. I threw myself down on the bed and stared at the grey ceiling letting my body sink into the mattress. I focused on anything else than the panic rising in my chest. The soft quilt against the open back in my shirt, the way my hair tickled the place where my shirt had ridden up low on my stomach, the Ravens outside screaming at each other, someone running in the hallway going in my direction… Before I had time to process what was happening the door swung open and Sadon stormed in. He looked around frantically and when his eyes locked with mine there was nothing but rage in them. 

He began screaming at me in what I must assume was Argash, his face turning red and fists curling and his jaw clenching. I would have to make him angrier if I wanted him to actually end... Everything. Being late to whatever meeting I had missed wouldn't be enough but maybe… The dinner father was hosting for The Courts of Prythian tonight was important, it was so important that not even Sadon had been asked to attend with me and my brothers. If I could do something stupid enough during dinner, if I could piss off my father enough, maybe it would work. 

“Melantha are you even listening anymore?! You can't just-” I stood up abruptly holding up a hand. I was so fucking done with this bullshit. He snapped out after my hand, but I was quicker and when his hand touched mine I grabbed him in steady grip between thumb and his index finger, putting my other hand against his shoulder and placing my right leg behind his and sweeping it out from under him, at the same time twisting his arm high on his back, slamming him to the stone floor. A loud wet crack and the blood was pooling around my feet, his eyes staring up into the ceiling blankly. My breathing turning rapid and shallow, pulse pounding in my temples.

The blood on my feet is warm and sticky. I lifted the hem of my skirt making sure no blood got on it, not that it mattered. By the time the cleaning lady would find it in the laundry basket it would all be over anyway.

~~~

After washing the blood off my feet and finding a dress in my wardrobe, straightening my hair and pulling it back is stood in front of the mirror admiring my handy work. The bodice and sleeves were hugging me like a second skin, the fabric a brown so dark it looked black. The skirt fell loose around my legs nearly touching the floor, a long slit up one side the only revealing part about the dress. My hair went to my upper thigh on half pulled up in braids that went around my head like a crown, the only crown I would ever wear. 

I could feel the cold metal of the dagger against my thigh as I shifted but looking at my thigh in the mirror it was almost impossible to see despite the thin flowy fabric. I had it hidden there just in case.

~~~

Nobody uttered a word as we waited for the guests at, not that I expected it. Father was sitting at the end of the table with Tayroun on his left and me on his right. Normally I would have been placed as far towards the end as I could but tonight the others had not been able to make it, thankfully. A Raven flew in through the window landing on my father's arm. After reading the message it had delivered his only response was a grunt and a wave of the hand and then the Raven was rushing out again through the window. 

A wave of power that made the glasses at the table rattle and my ears ring was the only warning as the seven High Lords and their heirs winnowed right into the heart of Hybern. The guests had arrived.


End file.
